Ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak Convicted, Sentenced to 15 Years in Major Corruption Ruling

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after a Malaysian High Court in Putrajaya found him guilty in the country’s largest corruption case linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. The verdict, delivered on December 26, 2025, follows a years-long trial in which Najib was convicted on multiple counts of abuse of power and money laundering for misappropriating state funds into his personal accounts. The court also imposed multi-billion-ringgit fines and ordered the recovery of assets connected to the illicit transactions. Najib, who has been in custody since 2022 for an earlier corruption conviction, denied wrongdoing and claimed the funds were political donations, a defence rejected by the court. His latest sentence will run after his current jail term, effectively keeping him imprisoned well into the next decade unless overturned on appeal. His legal team has indicated plans to challenge the ruling, while authorities continue efforts to recover funds tied to the global 1MDB financial scandal.